Of all the reasons to get an electric car, the claim of the “environmental benefit” has always been the most dubious.


At this point, I think most people can agree that electric cars are almost surely the future — and, in time, it’s likely that clean energy will become so prevalent, and battery technology so much better, that they can be made and charged using significantly less, and substantially less dangerous, materials.


However, we don’t live in those times, at least not yet. EV batteries are created using cobalt in a process that’s both environmentally destructive and labor-intensive, and while use of sustainable energy sources recently surpassed coal in the U.S., there’s still a significant chance that some traditional fuel is being used to charge your EV.



Recently, the Daily Mail captured headlines by claiming that, not only are EVs dangerous for the environment, they could be *more* dangerous than gas guzzlers. Go figure!


“The study, which was published in 2022 but has begun circulating again after being cited in a WSJ op-ed, found that brakes and tires release 1,850 times more particulate matter compared to modern exhaust pipes which have filters that reduce emissions,” reads the piece. “It found that EVs are 30 percent heavier on average than petrol-powered vehicles, which causes the brakes and tire treads to wear out faster than standard cars and releases tiny, often toxic particles into the atmosphere.”


As the Daily Mail notes, this study isn’t new — and ever since it came out, people have challenged its findings. For example, the central claims are based around the weight of EVs; however, there are numerous gas cars on the market that average at the same or higher weights than the typical EV. Additionally, EVs employ regenerative braking and don’t need new brake pads at the same rate as gas vehicles, and the calculations used in the study have been routinely brought into question.



But industry experts agree that strides can be made in tire manufacturing — as well as areas like battery production — to make EVs even more environmentally friendly than they already are. So for the time being, you don’t need to be environmentally shamed for your EV, just socially shamed for spending your money on the Cybertruck.